Residents and visitors continue to flock to the Igorot Stone Kingdom, one of the most frequented tourist destinations in the city, following its re-opening after over five months of undergoing the necessary facelift and putting in place of safety measures.
Igorot Stone Kingdom founder Engr. Pio Velasco said that people visiting the area can see for themselves the improvements and safety measures that had been put in place to ensure their safety while visiting the stone castles and stone walls that had been designed for the said attraction.
He pointed out that there are already some 19 designated parking areas that can accommodate close to 200 motor vehicles within the vicinity of the tourist spot aside from the parking space within the property.
Velasco reports that the management was able to satisfactorily comply with the stringent requirements imposed by the concerned offices of the city government that paved the way for the issuance of the special permit with some 7 conditions for them to continuously comply with during the duration of the special permit.
For his part, Ivan Paulo Velasco, administrative officer of the Igorot Stone Kingdom, said that the management will continue working on their compliance to the 7 conditionalities contained in the special permit as these will be subject to re-assessment by the concerned offices of the city government to ensure the continuous operation of the facility.
According to the elder Velasco, the management had a difficult time refusing residents and visitors who wanted to visit the tourist spot prior to its soft opening last April 3, 2023 because there were really many people who were eager to see for themselves how the facility evolved since it was closed late last year.
The put-up and eventual operation of the Igorot Stone Kingdom was a dream come true for Velasco, a contractor who had been dreaming to build castles through the use of the age-old indigenous practice of stone walling.
He admitted that he never expected the Igorot Stone Kingdom to catch the attention of foreign and domestic visitors which draw in a big number of daily visitors to personally see how the stone castles were built.
The younger Velasco apologized to the people who had been inconvenienced by the operation of the Igorot Stone Kingdom as the management is doing its best to effectively and efficiently address the issues and concerns raised by the public and the city government to ensure the smooth flow of traffic along the roads leading to the tourist spot.
The Velasco family is grateful to the city government for allowing the resumption of the operation of the Igorot Stone Kingdom so that they will be able to sustain their workers and the vibrance of economic activities of the businesses around the facility which had been doing good when the destination started operation a few years back.
The Velascos vowed that the Igorot Stone Kingdom will bounce back and will become better and stronger in the future while complying with the conditions imposed by the city government and concerned government agencies to ensure the safety and well-being of visitors.
